Seattle, Washington FBI Bureau File - Paperless Archives

1 E. ACORN Cards Submitted to REALS
2 The Cards submitted to REALS were added to the VRDB. The verification
process followed.
3
The Cards were verified in the manner described above. Once a Card failed,
4 REALS sent a letter to the person named on the Card at the address listed on
the Card. The letter requested that the person take steps (listed in the
5 letter) to verify that they registered to vote.
6 Of the 1805 Cards submitted to REALS by ACORN 1 1762 Cards failed the
verification process.
7
REALS staff contacted the KCPAO. The case was then referred to the King
8 County Sheriff/s Office (KCSO). The US Attorney/s Office and the FBI also
became involved.
9
10 VI. Investigation
11 A. Background
12 On or around March 29, 2007 1 I opened a case file and began an investigation
into the issues discussed above. The KCPAO was involved in the investigation
13 from the beginning 1 and it also became the record keeper of documents
pertinent to this investigation.
14
REALS provided the KCPAO with all original Cards submitted by ACORN.
15 Further l REALS provided all original correspondence (e.g' l verification
letter sent by REALS to the addresses of named persons listed on the Cards)
16 involved 1 and other documentation compiled by the office.
17 B. ACORN Initiates Investigation
18 Brian Mellor l general counsel for ACORN, sent a letter to then prosecuting
attorney Norm Maleng, stating that after reading contemporary new articles
19 concerning potential problems with the Cards submitted to REALS by ACORN, he
conducted an internal review of Cards submitted by employees at the Tacoma
20 ACORN office.
21 Mellor stated in the letter that after analysis he discovered evidence that
three employees collected a substantial number of Cards from two homeless
22 shelters in Seattle. His examination of the Cards submitted by these three
workers led him to believe that the signatures were forged. He named the
23 employees he suspected: Tina Johnson, Ryan Olson and Jayson Woods.
24
25
Certification for Determination
of Probable Cause
Norm Maleng
Prosecuting Attorney
W 554 King County Courthouse
Seattle, Washington 98104-2312
(206) 296-9000